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PUCO Says Data Centers Should Not Be Eligible For New Enrollment Into Rider NMB Pilot, Except Through Reasonable Arrangement
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The PUC of Ohio said in an order that data centers in the FirstEnergy Ohio utilities' service area should not be eligible to be added to the Rider NMB pilot program after updated Rider NMB rates go into effect on April 1, 2026, except through a "reasonable arrangement" approved by the Commission pursuant to R.C. 4905.31
Rider NMB reflects certain "non-market" PJM transmission costs, and is generally nonbypassable. For customers served under Rider NMB, retail suppliers are not assigned any costs included in Rider NMB related to such customers
However, a pilot program allows certain large customers to opt-out of Rider NMB, and to pay the relevant non-market-based transmission charges either through their retail supplier (meaning the retail supplier is allocated such charges from PJM), or directly themselves.
Consumer advocates have expressed concern that the Rider NMB pilot results in cost shifting to customers not in the pilot
PUCO found that the Rider NMB pilot continues to benefit all customers, providing economic development and potential load reduction benefits
However, to allow for the continued evaluation of the impact of data centers on transmission costs, PUCO said that, "we agree that any data
center not currently participating in the NMB Pilot Program should not be eligible to be
added to the NMB Pilot Program after rates go into effect on April 1, 2026, except through
a reasonable arrangement approved by the Commission pursuant to R.C. 4905.31."
PUCO said that further analysis needs to be conducted before determining whether a minimum billing
provision under the Rider NMB Pilot Program should be adopted
In a separate order concerning a differently constructed pilot related to non-market transmission costs at AEP Ohio, PUCO similarly said that any data center not currently
participating in the AEP Ohio Basic Transmission Cost Rider (BTCR) pilot should not be eligible to be added to the BTCR pilot, and
any data center currently on the pilot should not be permitted to participate in the pilot or successor programs as of June 1, 2028, except through a reasonable arrangement approved
by the Commission pursuant to R.C. 4905.31.
AEP Ohio's BTCR pilot does not change whether Rider BTCR is bypassable, but determines whether a customer may use 1 CP or 6 CP for billing, rather than the standard billing determinants
Case 26-35-EL-RDR - FirstEnergy EDCs
Case 26-47-EL-RDR - AEP Ohio
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March 18, 2026
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Copyright 2026 EnergyChoiceMatters.com
Reporting by Paul Ring • ring@energychoicematters.com
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